Photoaging and the Glogau Scale

You are my sunshine In that, you may have damaged me In ways I won’t know about for years to come

Do you ever look in the mirror and notice an uneven complexion or irregular pigmentation?

Or maybe you have signs of premature ageing, with loss of skin elasticity, especially around your jaw and décolleté?

Then chances are this is the early beginnings of photo ageing; an ambiguous sounding word I know, which means your skin is damaged as a result of repeated exposure to ultraviolet light.

And it’s true of course we are all ageing, but photo damaged skin is the most common and pervasive change of ageing I see in my clinic on a daily basis.

I would even go far as to say, that it is responsible for most of the skin changes that we think of as a normal part of ageing; this is especially true of UVA rays, after all their not dubbed the ageing ray for nothing.

Read the naked truth below to learn how to treat photo damage.

PHOTO (SUN) DAMAGED SKIN

THE NATURALLY AGEING FACE

The epidermis is plump and healthy

Crows feet form around the eyes

A few spider veins and age spots

Lines and wrinkles appear in natural creases from expression

THE PHOTO DAMAGED FACE

Skin becomes sallow, an almost yellow discolouration

Telangiectasias appear, which are small dilated capillaries

Lines appear in areas with no movement, like the cheeks

Ealstosis the destruction of elastic tissue occurs, this causes sagging, lines and wrinkles

Discoloured areas of skin become apparent, this is referred to as mottledpigmentation

Skins texture changes, the skin becomes coarse and the epidermis starts to thicken

Chromosones in the skin cells get damaged, which are strands of DNA in the body, this increases precancerous actinic keratosis, and cancerous skin lesions such as melanoma

THE GLOUCAU CLASSIFICATION

Fortunately, Dr. Richard Glogau came up with a classification system, that helps people evaluate how aged their skin looks.

Recognising where you are on the scale is pretty straightforward.

It’s a really cool tool for helping you to evaluate your skin, which ultimately ensures that you are using the correct treatments and products.

MILD PHOTOAGING

Type 1

Minimal pigment change

Keratosis is not yet visible

Little or no make up for coverage is required

This is typical of someone that is usually aged between 28-35

There are few if any wrinkles or scars present, at this age

MODERATE PHOTOAGING

Type 2

The colour of the skin is sallow

Typically aged between 35-50

Keratosis is palpable but not visible

Some mild scarring is usually present

Smile lines may start to become visible

Skin type still requires a light cover up

Early signs of lines and wrinkles will be in motion, such as smile lines

ADVANCED PHOTOAGING

Type 3

Typically aged between 50-65

Keratosis is now very present

The need to wear make up is more apparent

Obvious discolouration of the skin is evident

Wrinkles are now apparent, even when not smiling

Telangiectasias often referred to as broken capillaries are now very visible

SEVERE PHOTOAGING

Type 4

Aged between 60-75

Sallow-yellow, greyish skin colour

Severe wrinkling throughout

Little to no sign of normal skin

Gravitational lines are apparent

Dynamic actinic keratosis, with or without skin cancer

WHICH TYPE ARE YOU

Sure, we are all going to start out in life as a TYPE 1, with smooth, unblemished, wrinkle free skin.

But as we move in to our late twenties and mid thirties. we may notice a little smile line appear at the corner of the eyes or mouth, or a small brown spot appear out of nowhere, welcome to TYPE 2.

A few years later and uh oh, that smile line is now really visible, and yet when you are no longer smiling that line is still showing.

That faint brown spot is also becoming more obvious, this can only mean one thing: it’s TYPE 3.

All of a sudden wrinkles seem to be appearing everywhere and your skin texture is super irregular.

Your skin appears sallow and very dry; all those years of sun worshipping and not knowing about damaging UVA rays are starting to haunt you.

Its official you are now TYPE 4.

THE NAKED TRUTH

Many of my clients and readers want to know how to treat their sun damaged skin but sadly it’s not easy, many lightening products come in the form of hydroquinone an ingredient which has many guises.

Initial application of this ingredient appears promising, but it is misleading! As long term usage will pull out even more melanin from the dermal junction to the surface.

According to Dr. Glogau, TYPE 1 and 2 should be all about protection, nourishment and prevention. I always advocate using a good sunscreen, nothing to high as the chemicals can damage your sensitive skin, an SPF 15 is enough, especially if you are using safe sun practices.

TYPE 3’s and 4’s can benefit from topical retinoids, peptides and vitamins. You still want to have a good skincare routine in place, to keep your skin in a healthy condition, it just requires more TLC.

ACE antioxidant complex is a great place to begin to naturally lighten pigmentation. I’s full of natural free radical scavengers that mop up any damage done by ultra violet rays, and Q10 and Vinanza grape will lighten and brighten areas of pigmentation over time.

A+ retinol complex is another product that you may want to consider, that is packed full of antioxidants and vitamin A. It helps to slow down visible signs of ageing and repairing cellular damage when our bodies restructure and renewal process is most active at night.

In my opinion an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to maintaining a youthful skin.